The FIA World Endurance Championship will return to Brazil later this week as the world’s premier endurance racing series prepares for the 6 Hours of São Paulo (July 13-14).
It has been ten years since the Autodromo José Carlos Pace last hosted a FIA WEC round. The six-hour race was first held at the circuit in 2012 during the inaugural season of the WEC, won by Toyota, while Porsche won the 2014 edition.
Interlagos is only 4,309 km long and is the shortest track of the year with 15 turns (5 right/10 left). The Hypercars reach speeds of around 305 km/h and around 50% of the laps are at full throttle. During one lap of the circuit, the Hypercar drivers will change gears around 38 times.
The WEC South America event will feature 19 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 cars, with fans in the country cheering on two local drivers: Nicolas Costa, driving the McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo for United Autosport, and Augusto Parfoux, driving the BMW M4 LMGT3 for Team WRT.
Costa, who knows Interlagos better than most drivers on the FIA WEC grid, outlined some of the circuit’s key features. “It’s a flowing track that tests all the strengths of the car. There are really long straights that go uphill, so you really need power. There are fast corners and slow corners, and it’s very dependent on traction and aerodynamics. Overall, it’s a difficult track to balance the car, and it’s important to have a good package!”
There are a few minor driver changes to the entry list for Sao Paulo. The #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 has Neel Jani and Julien Andlauer as drivers, while regular third-place finisher Harry Tincknell is unavailable in Brazil due to a conflict with a round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Meanwhile, in the Lexus RC F LMGT3 driven by the #78 Akkodis ASP team, regular Silver-class driver Timur Boguslavskiy has been replaced by Austrian Clemens Schmid. DTM regular Schmid made his WEC debut at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year when Boguslavskiy was unable to race due to illness.
Finally, Mike Conway returns to the cockpit of the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar, while former teammate José María López returns in the #87 Akkodis ASP-run Lexus RC F LMGT3. López replaced Conway at Le Mans after the Briton sustained an injury while training on the bike.
But all eyes are on the increasingly fierce battle for the championship title, with the top three manufacturers (Porsche, Ferrari and Toyota) separated by just 12 points in the FIA Hypercars World Endurance Manufacturer Championship.
Porsche tops the overall standings with 108 points, but is closely followed by Ferrari (99 points) and Toyota (96 points), currently in third place. With more than 100 championship points up for grabs (104 including pole position) from the remaining WEC rounds in Brazil, the United States, Japan and Bahrain, the race for the 2024 title should be well underway.
English:There have been four different winners in the headline Hypercar category so far this year, showing the truly competitive nature of the championship. Round one in Qatar saw Porsche Penske Motorsport and their Porsche 963 take the win. Next up was Toyota Gazoo Racing and their Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar, taking victory in Round two at Imola. Hertz Team JOTA and their Porsche 963 claimed glory for the British squad that took the chequered flag at Spa-Francorchamps in May. Most recently it was Ferrari AF Corse’s turn, with their Ferrari 499P Hypercar once again proving that they are the car to beat at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the new LMGT3 class for 2024, the race is even tighter with the top three teams separated by just two points. Manthey PureRXcing and Manthey EMA are both tied on 75 points, while Round 2 winners Team WRT have a total of 73 points.
The all-female Iron Dames crew will be brimming with confidence heading into Brazil after winning the European Le Mans Series race at Imola last weekend. The trio secured pole position in the Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2 at Spa-Francorchamps, but have yet to convert that into a race win in the WEC so far this season.
The race begins with two free practice sessions on Friday (July 12), with qualifying and the all-important Hyperpole taking place on Saturday. The green flag for the six-hour race will wave at 11:30 local time on Sunday (July 14).
schedule
Friday, July 12th
10:45 – 12:15: Free Practice 1
15:15 – 16:45: Free Practice 2
Saturday, July 13th
10:30 – 11:30 Free Practice 3
14:30 – 15:40 Preliminary + Hyperpole
Sunday, July 14th
11:30 – 17:30 Sao Paulo 6 hours
